1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to data storage and backup solutions for archiving data and recovering data. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to software, hardware, systems, and methods for facilitating automated restores of select data or files based on user-selectable criteria.
2. The Relevant Technology
The need for reliable backup and archiving of information is well known. Businesses are devoting large amounts of time and money toward information system (IS) resources that are devoted to providing backup and archive of information resident in computers and servers within their organizations that produce and rely upon digital information. Generally, backup involves using a data storage application to make a coherent copy of data. Backup has become more important as the amount of data used by enterprises has exploded. Historically, tape has been used as the medium for backing up data, i.e., providing an archival copy of data. Initially tape was a much cheaper medium than disk and other storage media, and although tape remains the medium of choice for backup, disk solutions are becoming more popular for backup due to their higher speed relative to tape. For example, a disk storage device may be used for initial backup and system mirror. Additionally, disk storage devices may be used to store snapshots, at least temporarily, that provide a consistent point-in-time copy of a data set such as a logical volume, and these snapshots may be used to make backups or archival copies that are stored to tape (e.g., stored at a remote location).
When enterprise systems fail and/or data is lost, a recovery process is initiated to restore the enterprise systems and individual machines. In order to restore data, a backup administrator or data storage administrator typically acts to perform a full restore. In a full restore, most companies restore all the files for which backups were created to the destroyed or corrupted system. Such a full restore can be very time consuming and costly, with some restore services involving a mobile vault containing backups exported to tape or disk being transported to an enterprises site or data center. In other cases, the backups are stored in formats unique to the data storage application, and the restore process involves converting the backups or archived data from this archive format to its native format. The restore of all files or data to an enterprise's systems and machines is typically performed even though most files are rarely or never accessed by the system or large portions of the system. In a disaster recovery or multiple system failure scenario, the restoring of files or data that are not important or relevant to the system or portions of the system requires a significant amount of time.
Some efforts have been made to facilitate and simplify restoring data. However, there remains a need for improved techniques of restoring systems quickly and efficiently after a disaster or system failure, and preferably such a system would be useful regardless of which data protection system or application is utilized for creating backups.